So Much to Update!

Oh my goodness I am so sorry it's been so long.
Hmm... I feel like I start every blog post with that.

Well I've got a lot to update and for once I really am making it short and sweet... in way too much pain (joint-wise, not surgery-wise) and too tired to explain every detail.

And away we go!

• Turns out it WAS infected! But no worries - took some antibiotics and it cleared right up. Good thing I caught it early!
• Got to take out my own stitches! When I mentioned to the doc that I am a prenursing student, he showed me how to take out one and let me do the rest.
• No more big icky splint! for a while it was just wrapped but now I can have it open (much to the disgust of my siblings and mom)
• The scabs have almost all fallen off, leaving a very interesting shaped scar behind.
• I've been doing OT (occupational therapy) on my finger - just a week ago I couldn't bend it at all - now I can bend 90 degrees at the middle joint (with help from my other hand), about 70 degrees on my own, no help.

That's all I can remember health-wise. I know I'm probably forgetting several things (darn you, brain fog!) but I'll just come back and add if I remember something else.

In the non-health side of my life...

• Saturday was Senior Prom! I went with my boyfriend of almost three years, Logan - and I also had another date! ;) A special needs boy at my school named Max.

Here's just a couple of the many photos we took that night:

(The last photo is of me and my other date, Max!)

Alright, I know I probably have much more to say...but I guess that will be for another day.

Hakuna Matata!

-Jessica

Recovery...

...is a long road.
Pain, pain, pain, is gnawing away at my hand in several places. Slicing and tearing at the surgery site, aching and cramping up my finger joints and wrist in the cast, and pinching a nerve in my thumb, making it tingle with numbness and a quick zing every now and then.

I can feel my stitches wanting to burst when the whole area decides to swell up 5x its size every couple hours. The cast puts so much pressure on it, and it feels like my whole hand is going to pop.

Tomorrow we go back to see Dr. Hanel to fix my cast so it's no longer pressing up against a nerve and making my thumb go numb. We hadn't been expecting to see him again until the 15th, but it will be SO nice to be able to get my cast taken off and wiggle my wrist and fingers, even for just a moment.

But so much to be thankful for! We were able to get a refill on painkillers (thank GOODNESS!) they aren't as strong as the ones before, but they help a little, which is better than nothing!

The Starlight Prom on Saturday was SO much fun! Here's some photos:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3824920671217.165019.1523766058&type=3



I wish I could post ALL the photos. It was FANTASTIC. :) Such a fun event. I definitely overworked myself though, just 2 days after surgery, and paid for it that night / the next day. But it was worth it.

So life goes on. Trying to get back into the swing of things, while only using my left hand. Today at work I tri-folded 50+ invoices, stuffed them into envelopes, and stamped and sealed the envelopes. All with just my left hand! Was pretty darn proud of that.

Sorry to cut this short. Have to go. More to update soon.

Keep on keepin' on :)

-Jessica

1:11:07:20

1 day, 11 hours, 7 minutes, 20 seconds... that's what the countdown on my phone says. That's how long till I get this painful, annoying, mysterious tumor outta my hand, hopefully for good! Gotta admit I'm a little nervous, just for the pain part, of course (you think I'd be used to the whole pain thing by now, but when you know it's coming, I think it's just human instinct to get a little nervous). But most of all I'll be happy to get it done and over with.

Took off my cute pedicure (don't ask my why, but you can't have any nail polish on at all for surgery, fingers or toes). Updated my dry erase wall-calender for May before I don't have the use of my right hand to write it with. Got caught up on homework (also, did my Senior Portfolio Presentation! So glad it's done and over with! woohoo!) Arranged a ride to get me to church youth group on Sunday night.

Sounds like I'm ready. Just gotta get through Wednesday, then onto Thursday. The pre-op call came in Monday. Check-in is at 9:20am. Surgery is at 11. Nothing to eat after dinner/bedtime. Only water from 3:15am to 7:15am. Nothing, not even gum or mints, after 7:15am...or we have to reschedule. So many rules! So much to remember! Agh.

Can't wait for the Starlight Prom on Saturday :) Hopefully I won't be in too much pain, or on the flipside, not too drugged up, and I'll actually be able to enjoy it. My dress is super princessy. Can't wait to show photos!

Thanks for the kind thoughts (: Should really be a piece-of-cake, no-big-deal, sort of surgery. Will update, left-handed, when I get the chance. Or maybe I'll have Logan or my mom type for me. haha

Now the clock says 1 day, 10 hours, 55 minutes, 52 seconds...

:) Goodnight

AH I am SO Sorry!

Ack! I feel like a crummy person! I totally left my last post saying I have a surgery coming up, but I've been busy and feeling cruddy and just way too busy to find time to post and explain the surgery! I am so sorry to leave everyone hanging like that - a few people have messaged me to ask about it, so some of y'all know, but here's the scoop for everyone else.

(Here's the abridged version)
It's really not a big deal at all! I have a little tumor on my right index finger. The hand doctor/surgeon can't figure out for the life of him what the heck it is, so they are gonna take the whole dang thing out on May 3rd. They are taking very wide margins to make sure they get it all, so they will be grafting skin from the side of my hand. They'll first check if it's cancer, and then they'll send the tumor all over the country to different pathologists to see if anyone knows what it is. Once diagnosed, they'll go from there! (Oh and the doc definitely doesn't think it has anything to do with my EDS or other health stuff)
Crazy, huh? It's pretty bizarre looking. Very irregular edges, more looks like several lumps smooshed together - that's how abnormal edged it is. Kinda looks like Africa facing the opposite direction. And more short and fat. Haha now I'm getting all abstract with my description. (Oh- it's up by the surface of the skin and visible - that's how I know all this). It's not red or anything. It's not a rash or skin blemish. It's definitely a mass underneath the skin and all that jazz. And it hurts! So I can't wait to get it out and done and over with!

The only little teeny bummer thing is that I'll have to be in an ugly cast for as little as 3 weeks or as many as 6. And then a splint after that for who knows how long. The cast will definitely be on for my senior prom, and possibly be on for my graduation ceremony. But whatevs, right? I can bedazzle it or something for prom! hah :P

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Speakin of which, I might as well mention, prom is coming up! I'm going to two, possibly three proms! (1) the Starlight Prom (2) my Senior Prom, and (possibly 3) a church prom. (The Starlight Prom is held by the Starlight Children's Foundation, and is just for "medically eligible" teens, with chronic or terminal illnesses.)

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There was another whole shabang I was going to have to explain... but my brainpower is just about run out, and I'm exhausted. I'll have to write again tomorrow, and explain what happened yesterday. I want really badly to get some advice from the dysautonomia/POTS community, but I'm just too exhausted all of a sudden and the brain fog is setting in :( bleh. So sorry to run out of energy so fast, and I didn't even get to talk about the happy stuff yet either...

I'll come back to chat tomorrow, and I promise to explain my crazy day/emergency doc appt/stuff that happened yesterday!

-Jessica <3

To my friends and family who are here following me on this crazy part of my life, thank you for the support <3
To my zebra friends - stay strong, we'll get through this together, one day at a time!